WASHINGTON - As Salt Lake City officials consider easing restrictions on the availability of
alcoholic beverages and drinking locations during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, national poll
results released by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reveal that most Americans
dont need or want more alcohol as an inducement to attend the Games in February 2002.

The Salt Lake City Council has been considering Mayor Rocky Andersons request to turn all
of Washington Square into a drinking zone, a move opposed by some council members, who prefer a
smaller, more tightly monitored booze zone within the square. Alcohol Beverage Control authorities
have also expressed concern that the Mayors wide-open plan would facilitate underage drinking, make
it more difficult to control public inebriation, and complicate efforts to trace the source of alcohol when
problems occur. A public hearing on the proposal is set for the councils meeting on June 14.

According to the poll conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Inc., nearly three-quarters (73%) of adults said that Utahs restrictive alcohol laws would have no effect on their
decision to attend the games. Nine percent (9%) responded that they would be less likely to attend, but
twice that many (17%) indicated they would be more likely to attend the games if Utah maintained its
current limitations on retail sales. The poll findings were outlined in a letter from CSPI to Salt Lake
City officials.

The games are their own draw, wrote George Hacker, director of CSPIs alcohol policies
project in an open letter to the Salt Lake City Council. Partying and drinking alcohol are not
important factors for Americans in deciding whether to visit Utah for the Winter Olympics. This
information rejects the notion that Utah needs to gut its alcohol-control laws and traditions to welcome
visitors and satisfy the commercial interests of sponsor Anheuser-Busch and other alcoholic-beverage
industry promoters. Anheuser-Busch, the worlds largest brewer, is a principal sponsor of the Winter
Olympics. The company has been aggressively seeking to make its beers as available as possible
during the Games.

According to numerous news reports, Mayor Anderson wants to create a festival
atmosphere around City Hall during the Games, loosening existing city ordinances to allow
additional street vendors and the sale and consumption of beer and wine in public parks and
squares.

Some City Council members and public health activists have reservations about turning
the area into a beer garden. They believe that Utah can have a successful Olympic event
without flooding the streets with alcohol.

Dr. George J. Van Komen, a Salt Lake physician who chairs Utahs Alcohol Policy
Coalition, pointed to the CSPI poll as further evidence that the family and youth-oriented Winter
Olympics dont need to be alcoholized to be successful. He said, For the vast majority of
Americans, there are many more important reasons to come to the Games than to drink. Utahs
current laws on alcohol both respect Americans wishes and do not dampen the spirit of genuine
hospitality that we offer all visitors. Affirming Utahs community values, rather than skewering
them to market and sell more Budweiser, mirrors American attitudes and promises a successful,
safe, and welcoming Winter Olympics.

Other key findings of the poll include:

Two-thirds (66%) of American adults say that having alcoholic beverages
freely available at many locations during the Winter Olympics is not
important. Only 15% indicated that it was very important.

When asked the best reason people decide to go to the Olympics, just 3%
said to party and drink alcohol. Similarly, only 3% of respondents
indicated the restricted availability of alcoholic beverages as a reason
not to go.

The CSPI poll, conducted from April 5 - 8, 2001, surveyed 500 Americans over the age of 21.
Its margin of error is +/- 4.4 at 95% confidence interval level.